The state of the global economy has been in the news a lot lately with the anti-establishment ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest movement gaining momentum throughout the word. The Catholic Church has boldly entered that debate with the Vatican this week urging a radical reform of the world's financial systems.
A proposal put forward by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace outlines a new world economic order based on ethics and the "achievement of a universal common good." It also calls for the installation of a global political authority to manage the economy. This comes after Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 economic encyclical that denounced a profit-at-all-cost mentality as responsible for the global financial meltdown.
The proposal admits that a "long road still needs to be traveled before arriving at the creation of a public authority with universal jurisdiction" and suggests beginning the reform process with an overhaul of the United Nations.
"It is an exercise of responsibility not only toward the current but above all toward future generations, so that hope for a better future and confidence in human dignity and capacity for good may never be extinguished," the document read.
The proposal emphasises that reforms should ensure that financial and monetary policies do not damage smaller economies while also fairly distributing the world’s wealth.
The document fiercely condemned "utilitarian thinking," saying what is useful to the individual does not always favor the common good.